The Way of Saint Francis: Spello to Trevi

I’m not sure that pilgrims of old would have travelled the pilgrim route as we chose to. After each walk day we planned a rest day, meaning we’d stay two nights in the town we’d walked to. This was not just a concession to our age (which combined equals 142 years!), but also a way for us to better experience some of the life of the smaller, more remote towns of Umbria. Certainly, after our somewhat gruelling first day, it was not difficult to have a spell in Spello. Although just a small town, it’s dubbed the city of flowers. And everywhere in the narrow, winding lanes of this hill town we saw flowers: in pots, in hanging baskets, in gaps in the stone walls, and even in a small pickup van that stayed parked in the street too long.

Flowers in Spello

Stand still in Spello and they’ll plant flowers!

We rested well, and ate well; sharing an osteria the first night with a large party from Denmark who were walking towards Assisi. We even raised a glass to their Queen Mary, and they seemed genuinely thankful that we Tasmanians had sent her their way. We spent our rest day gently exploring the town, and sitting around doing very little. One of the great aspects of hilltop towns is the views, and we relished resting in the shade with a cup of coffee, and looking out over the serene Umbrian countryside, with its mix of olive groves, cropping fields and forest-covered hillsides. The quiet and calm surroundings of Spello were certainly a welcome balm.

A rest with a view: Spello

And so came our second day of walking, from Spello to Trevi. On paper it appeared less arduous, especially when it began with a ride into the next town of Foligno. This was all part of the tour company’s plan, presumably to save us from some long and tedious urban road walking between Spello and Foligno. After a good strong coffee, we walked out of Foligno. Although it was initially along some “tedious urban roads”, things became quieter as we approached the small satellite town of Sant’Eraclio. Here we paused to look inside the Chiesa del Castello (Church of the Castle), which housed a statue of Saint Francis, along with a scale model of the town of Assisi. The meticulous wooden model was built in 1991 as a prop for a film about the Saint Francis and Saint Clare. This was to be directed by famous filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, but it never made it to production. 

A wooden St Francis in front of a wooden model of Assisi

Walking through an Umbrian olive grove

After departing Sant’Eraclio we left the roads and began walking on quiet farm tracks through olive groves. The surroundings were far more rural, and much less steep than the first day. But the weather remained fine and warm, and as we drew nearer to Trevi, the steepness returned. We’d finally begun to put two and two together. If you walk to hilltop towns it’s always going to involve some uphill walking. During one uphill plod we slumped down in some shade for a hard-earned drink and a bite to eat. Out of nowhere a farmer appeared, and kindly offered to fill up our water bottles. This was the first time we felt recognised as pilgrims. But soon afterwards we started to see more walkers, most of whom were going the opposite way. Our lack of Italian, apart from “buongiorno” or “buen camino”, tended to limit our interactions, but we guessed they too were pellegrinos. 

Autumn crocuses

Our poor language skills became particularly apparent when we met a film crew coming towards us. With the cameras rolling, they asked us, in Italian, if we were walking the Via di San Francesco. We answered with a “Si!”, which was about the extent of our conversational Italian. They didn’t speak much English either, but they did manage to gather our opinion on what the next stage of walking was like. I mimed “undulating”, in my best sign language, and they nodded and walked on. I’m not sure we’re going to be stars of an Italian pilgrimage documentary any time soon, but we’ll be keeping our eyes out!

Lunch in the shade of a chapel

Before the final push into Trevi, we found a shady spot with seats, outside a little chapel. There we rested and ate lunch, glad of the twin luxuries of shade and somewhere comfortable to sit. Inevitably the last part of the walk into Trevi was very steep, the track rough and rutted. I’ve never found it helpful to look at the blue dot on a mapping app, which indicates where you are on the map. But on this occasion I couldn’t resist peaking, and it looked as though we only had a short distance to go. Try telling that to those who are doing that final uphill slog! 

The final approach to Trevi

Of course we eventually did reach the top of the rise, and there before us we saw the beautiful stone-built hilltop town of Trevi, framed between a huge olive tree and the wide Umbrian sky. We’d done another 14 km of walking, and were more than glad to unpack, wash, and head out for a very welcome cold beer.

Arriving in Trevi